IC-R30 GPS: Position, Memory, Alarm & Logger

Summary: How to use the IC-R30’s built-in GPS receiver: checking your position, GPS memories and alarms, the GPS logger, and settings.

Before You Start

The GPS receiver is under the top panel: don’t cover the top with anything that blocks satellite signals. GPS signals don’t pass through metal, so in a vehicle use it near a window. It may not work in tunnels, high-rise areas, underground car parks, under bridges, in forests or in bad weather. GPS is operated by the US Department of Defense, which can affect its accuracy.

The GPS icon blinks while acquiring and stays on when your position is received correctly. It’s not shown if GPS Select is Manual. Time to a fix varies by location.

GPS Select and Power Saving

MENU, GPS, GPS Set, GPS Select: Internal GPS (default), Manual (uses the position you enter) or OFF. To save battery when you stay in one place, use Manual Position (Capture From GPS in its QUICK menu copies the received position), then set GPS Select to Manual. Power Save (Internal GPS) (default Auto) turns the GPS off for 1, 2, 4 or 8 minutes (Auto extends 1, 2, 4, then 8) after 5 minutes without satellites.

Checking Your Position

Push [QUICK], GPS Position. Rotate [DIAL] between MY (your position), RX (a received station), MEM (a GPS memory) and ALM (a GPS alarm). The MY screen shows latitude, longitude, time, grid locator, altitude, speed, course and compass direction. GPS Information in the Quick Menu shows the satellite sky view (direction, elevation, number and status). The screen units follow Display, Display Unit (see IC-R30 SET Menu Reference).

GPS Memory

Up to 300 GPS memories can be stored (from your GPS position, a received D-STAR station, or entered by hand), in groups. MENU, GPS, GPS Memory. They give the receiver destinations for the alarm and let the RX screen show direction and distance.

GPS Alarm

The GPS Alarm sounds beeps and blinks an icon when a target enters a range. MENU, GPS, Alarm Select: OFF (default), RX (the last received position), Group (positions in the selected GPS memory group) or Memory (a chosen GPS memory).

• Alarm Area (Group) (default 0.25 minutes of arc): 0.08 to 59.99 minutes of arc (or 5 seconds to 59 minutes 59 seconds, depending on the position format).
• Alarm Area (RX/Memory) (default Both): Limited (3 beeps within 500 m), Extended (3 beeps within 1 km) or Both (a beep at 1 km and 3 beeps at 500 m).

GPS Logger

The logger saves position, altitude, positioning state, course, speed, date and time to the microSD card as a .log file, named by the start date and time (for example 20180520_153000.log) in the card’s Gps folder. You can load the file into a mapping application to see your route (not every application is compatible).

• The logger is ON by default. With a card inserted it keeps logging, even after you turn the receiver off and on again, until the card is full (it then pauses). To turn it off: MENU, GPS, GPS Logger, GPS Logger, OFF.
• Record Interval (default 5 s): 1, 5, 10, 30 or 60 seconds. Record Sentence (default all): RMC, GGA, VTG, GSA (choose at least one).
• <<GPS Logger Only>>: only the logger works and the receiver doesn’t receive signals; restart the receiver to cancel it. GPS Select must be Internal GPS.
• No log is saved when GPS Select is OFF or Manual.

Copy log files to a PC with SD Card Mode (see IC-R30 microSD Card: Backup, CSV Import/Export & SD Card Mode).

GPS Time and Units

Time Set, GPS Time Correct (default Auto) sets the clock from GPS UTC plus the UTC Offset. Units default to US ones; change Latitude/Longitude, Altitude/Distance, Speed, Temperature, Barometric, Rainfall and Wind Speed in Display, Display Unit.

GPS Output

With USB Serialport Function (or the Bluetooth Serialport Function) set to GPS Out, the GPS information from the internal receiver is output over USB; see IC-R30 USB, CI-V & Cloning.